Family grieves Westport High sophomore killed in a one-car accident

Erika S. Hall loved playing field hockey and especially the camaraderie of her team. And everything the Westport High School sophomore did, she did with passion.

CURT BROWN

WESTPORT — Erika S. Hall loved playing field hockey and especially the camaraderie of her team. She danced ballet, jazz and contemporary tap, and painted, sculpted and played several instruments.

And everything the Westport High School sophomore did, she did with passion.

"She lived every inch of her life to the fullest," her father, the Rev. Nathan R. Hall told The Standard-Times Monday night. "She wanted to experience everything life had to offer."

Erika, 16, died Saturday when the car she was in with three other WHS students struck a telephone pole and flipped over about 11:24 p.m. near 1634 Drift Road. She and an 18-year-old male passenger, both in the back seat, were not wearing seatbelts and were ejected, said Detective Sgt. Antonio Cestodio, public information officer for the Westport Police Department.

The condition of the 18-year-old is improving, but he remains at Rhode Island Hospital.

The 16-year-old male driver and an 18-year-old male passenger in the front were hospitalized and later released, police said. Both front seat occupants were wearing seatbelts.

Cestodio said the crash is under investigation by Westport and state police and Bristol County District Attorney C. Samuel Sutter's office.

Gregg Miliote, a spokesman for the district attorney's office, said the driver's name is being withheld because he is a juvenile and there is the potential for criminal charges. The names of the other students are also not being released.

While the Hall family struggled with the loss of Erika, her father, pastor of the Pacific Union Congregational Church in Westport remembered how she lived.

Whatever she chose to do, "she wanted to go after it hard," he said. "She always wanted to push the boundaries. She was fearless."

An excellent student who earned good grades, she was spontaneous and everything she did she taught herself, he said.

Hall said that given Erika's varied interests, the only thing her family knew for sure about her future was that she was planning to spend her junior year as a foreign exchange student in Italy, starting in August.

"Beyond that we had no idea," he said.

The tragic accident has touched the school and the Westport community and Cestodio said police met Sunday with the administrative staff at WHS to discuss the accident.

"For those of us with young children, it's a parent's worst nightmare," said Craig Dutra, a member of the Westport Board of Selectmen.

Grief counselors were at the school on Monday to help students deal with the death of the popular student, according to Jay Pacheco, the school's athletic director.

"The School Department did a phenomenal job handling a terrible tragedy," he said. "It went as smooth as it could possibly have gone, given the circumstances."

The Rev. Dr. Neil C. Damgaard, pastor of the Dartmouth Bible Church, said the death of the 16-year-old has touched the entire faith community.

"Not only his (Pacific Union) congregation, but a number of congregations are just stunned. It's a great loss. There's devastation, but there is not despair," he said.

Rev. Hall said his faith is sustaining him during this tragic time.

He said he draws support from the fact that the final sermon Erika heard was his Easter Sunday message where he talked about the Resurrection and about how a person is not free until they die.

The family is aching terribly for their daughter who had such a zest for life, but knows she has been released to experience another life without pain or sorrow, he said.

"Our life is not this one. It's the next one," Hall said. "That's some of the hope we have for all of us."